NASCAR Richmond 2015 qualifying results: Joey Logano wins pole, Denny Hamlin second

After two of three rounds Joey Logano’s car was good but not great in qualifying Friday at Richmond International Raceway. So with little to lose and a tight handling car, he figured to gamble and called for dramatic adjustments to his No. 22 Ford.

The decision paid off, as Logano took the pole position for Saturday’s Toyota Owners 400. His speed of 127.071 mph edged Denny Hamlin, with Kurt Busch, A.J. Allmendinger and Kevin Harvick completing the top-five qualifiers.

“I thought we had a shot at the pole all along, but after the first run it wasn’t very good and I started second guessing,” Logano said. “We made some adjustments and didn’t make much ground on it the second round. Then we swung for the fence. When you are sitting 11th on the board you only have one spot to lose so we went for it and she turned and off she went.”

Because Logano is starting first, conventional wisdom says Logano is well positioned to defend his spring Richmond win of a year ago. In that race he lined up 17th before passing Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski over the final five laps.

But Logano dismissed the idea that his pole speed will carry over to Saturday. Qualifying was held in the early evening, while the race will begin later at night and in cooler temperatures.

“It won’t really come into play much,” he said. “We made some adjustments in practice the last run that we learned about, but what we did in qualifying won’t come into play for the race.”

Hamlin returned after removing himself just 22 laps into last Sunday’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The native Virginian, who considers Richmond his home track, had been suffering from neck spasms. He visited a chiropractor earlier in the week and felt fit enough to compete in a charity race Thursday night.

“I was really 100 percent probably on Tuesday, but I just had something pop out of place and it affected the muscles in my upper back and kind of went to the back of my head,” Hamlin said. “Unfortunately, I just couldn’t move my head. I couldn’t even look in the mirror.”

Nineteen-year-old Chase Elliott, who will replace Jeff Gordon next season, qualified for his second career race by posting the 16th-fastest time. Gordon starts 11th Saturday. Their Hendrick Motorsports teammates struggled, however.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne will start 26th, 36th and 40th, respectively. The poor showing especially baffled Johnson, as the No. 48 car had been fast in practice.

“I’m really puzzled,” Johnson said. “We had such a great practice session -- in race and qualifying trim -- so I’m just scratching my head, big-time, right now. We’ll try to figure out what happened and then prepare for the race.

“I really had high hopes for a good starting spot, but we’re far from that.”

Jeb Burton and Brendan Gaughan failed to qualify.

Toyota Owners 400 starting lineup